Fellowship across borders
A Fellowship program now exists in Canada thanks to a recent collaboration between RESULTS U.S. and Results Canada. In addition to collaboration with a network of worldwide ACTION partners, RESULTS U.S. has the support of sister RESULTS organizations located in Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. Having an international team means there are always great ideas and colleagues willing to share in pursuit of the same goal of eradicating extreme poverty. The Fellowship program is a prime example of how sharing resources can lead to the building of a new initiative that can be implemented around the world.
Established in the U.S. in 2014 as the REAL Change Fellowship, the U.S. program equips young adults with skills to become life-long advocates and leaders. RESULTS provides a year-long program of training and taking action in affecting legislation, getting published, and organizing in their communities. Each Fellow has a different reason for joining this year-long program; many go on to new leadership positions in RESULTS, careers in advocacy, community organizing, government, and more.
Yolanda Gordon was a volunteer when the Fellowship program first started. She was part of the Experts on Poverty, a group of Americans with lived poverty experience who were eager to support the organization.
“In my volunteer role, I was able to provide training for the Fellowship program,” said Yolanda. “Years later, I was hired to lead the Fellowship into the future. In 2019, we renamed the program from REAL Change Fellowship to RESULTS Fellowship. Since then I have continued to create content, workshops and webinars to train the next generation of advocates.”
Mélissa Dubé is the Public Engagement Coordinator for Results Canada. Ever since joining over 3 years ago, the RESULTS Fellowship program has intrigued her. She could see the impact created by the program and how it brought more interested volunteers to the organization.
“Creating a Fellowship program was always at the back of my mind.” said Mélissa. “The Executive Director (Results Canada) Chris Dendys and I watched the U.S.-based Fellowship program closely and dreamt of having a similar program one day.”
Finally in November 2020 – thanks to the support of RESULTS U.S., – Results Canada was able to launch their very own Results Canada Education and Advocacy Fellowship program at their National Conference. After only a few months, the program has attracted a more-than-anticipated number of talented and passionate volunteers looking to make a difference through increased advocacy skills training.
According to Mélissa: “Despite the program being in its initial stages, I have noticed a definite impact in our overall volunteer actions with 31 dedicated and eager program Fellows. They bring energy to existing volunteer groups, are creating brand new groups, and are already taking action including submitting letters to the editor and securing landmarks to be lit up in red as part of World TB Day. Yolanda from RESULTS U.S. was instrumental in helping our Fellowship program get to this place!”
To support RESULTS in building and providing stimulating programs like the Fellowship to the next generation of advocates, consider donating to both of our organizations (RESULTS US, Results Canada) and following us on social media (see below). Both Results Canada and RESULTS U.S. continue to spotlight throughout the year the Fellows involved in their programs. Read all their stories and keep up to date by checking both website pages often for news, updates and the launch of the 2022 Fellowship programs in both the U.S. and Canada.
Results Canada Fellowship program
Follow RESULTS U.S. on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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